'Sedgeland Nation' by Ben Walter | States of Poetry Tasmania - Series Two

if we are straws slurpingat this pool, it is to slake our own thirst; we have claimed this land as ten thousand flagpoles needing no flag, but we are gentle sceptres;a nest dispersed and cradling paper wings.

this silt: our home, where all legs hurry as their days dry up;this rot: our mother,tadpole to sedge. and sowe murmur the rhythmsof frogs when our stringsare plucked by breeze;we are instrument and stave,a hymn to this, our year.

while some quiver at our spears lancing air, we know enough to stake this tent of water tillthe border nears. there, we open the ground,let the water throughunfiltered; there is nothing left to fear.

Ben Walter

'Sedgeland Nation' first appeared in 'Poets and Painters: Celebrating the Big Punchbowl'.

Ben Walter’s poetry, fiction, and essays have been widely published in Australian journals, including Meanjin, Island, Southerly, and The Lifted Brow. His début novel manuscript was the winner of the people’s choice category in the 2017 Tasmanian Premier’s Literary Prizes. He won the 2016 John Shaw Neilson Poetry Award, and was runner-up in Overland’s VU Short Story Prize. His latest book is Conglomerate, published as part of the Lost Rocks series.

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